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Urban 2 - Community Initiative

What is it?

The Urban 2 programme is a European Structural Fund which is worth in excess of £10.5 million pounds to the Inner North Belfast Area. Belfast Regeneration Office acts as the Managing Authority for this Fund. This high profile programme is wide-ranging and aims to address a diverse range of issues such as unemployment, transport and community relations.

The European Union's (EU) Urban initiative started in 1994. Belfast and Londonderry, along with 113 other European cities participated in the first Urban Programme which ran from 1994-1999. For further details see the Urban 1 Programme final closure report.

Urban 2 aims to build on the successes of the Urban 1 Programme and the Programme focuses on disadvantaged urban areas within inner north Belfast. Urban 2 complements the Peace 2 programme and the Building Sustainable Prosperity Programme for Northern Ireland.

The Urban initiative focuses on achieving:

co-ordinated physical, economic and social action in urban areas of high disadvantage, and
exchange of experience and best practice from participating cities across the European Union

To date a wide range of projects have benefited from Urban 2 funding. Notable high profile success stories include:

The Mount Sports Zone: Urban 2 funding contributed to the construction of a new multi purpose sports centre in the Tigers Bay Area of North Belfast;
The 123 House Makeover: Funding enabled the refurbishment of the 123 House community centre; and
The Cancer Lifeline: Funding enabled the Cancer Lifeline project base to be refurbished and to allow the charity to continue to provide support to those in the community who are dealing with cancer.

Further information

The Implementing Body for this programme is the North Belfast Partnership. Further details on the Urban 2 programme can be found at http://www.northbelfastpartnership.org/urban

or email info@nthbp.org.

Applications

Applications to the Urban 2 programme must, in the first instance, be made electronically. Application forms can be accessed at the EU Structural Funds website: - http://www.eugrants.org

Please note that not all measures will necessarily be open for application at the same time. A full list of measures and their open or closed status can be found on the website.